This section provides information on a select list of frequently asked questions and common topics on Nepali Spell Checker. One specific example for each topic is presented with the hope that the information will benefit other users who may be looking for similar information.

Some correct words no longer seem to be considered correct

Apr 4, 2013, Pardeshi - The word ठीक used to be correct, but now the spell checker shows the Raswa form to be the correct form.

NLRC - Thank you for raising an important point. With the wider adoption and the evolution of the Nepali language, various opinions, sometimes conflicting, have been raised on how the language should evolve. On issues like orthography, pronunciation and grammar, there have been conflicting arguments. In order not to adopt one set of arguments over the other and to make the resources provided by NLRC all sides can trust, we strictly follow the guidelines published by Nepal Academy.

With this background, what we are trying to point out is that because we follow the guidelines published by the Academy and the guidelines themselves get updated over time, our app is also continuously updated to reflect the changes to the Academy guidelines. What you highlighted is an example of such change.

Going back to your question, the earlier editions of the official Nepali dictionary used to have the Dirgha form, ठीक, as a valid entry. However, the later editions have removed the Dirgha form and only include the Raswa form, ठिक, meaning "correct," in the dictionary. We do not want to speak for the Academy, but our hunch is that it could be one of the many changes that have been adopted by the Academy as a result of its various efforts to bring Nepali language experts together to work out their differences and come up with common guidelines agreeable to all parties.

Checking text in non-Unicode fonts

Feb 27, 2015, John Rai - I inserted text in Preeti font, but it did not work.

NLRC - Nepali Spell Checker supports only Unicode fonts. It does not support Preeti font as it is not a Unicode font.

Some words do not seem to be in the database

Apr 4, 2013, Pardeshi - I searched for some words, but do not seem to find them.

NLRC - The most important aspect that has been considered while developing our applications is the quality of data. Rather than aiming for its quantity (correct or incorrect), we have aimed for its quality. Each word is entered manually in the database after it gets approved by subject-matter experts and after it is verified against the official Nepali dictionary and Nepali grammar and orthography rules.

There are pros and cons of this approach. The trade-off obviously is that all words cannot be entered right away. The benefit of this approach, however, is that you can trust the quality of the data and be confident that the suggestions you are getting are accurate.

When it comes to data entry, not all information get the same priority. To make data more relevant, and, most importantly, to ensure that the data our users are more likely to use gets priority, we ensure that the most relevant data gets entered first. NLRC has developed an algorithm to identify words and phrases that are most frequently used in Nepali and keeps a list of such words and phrases in descending order of relevancy. The algorithm tracks common Nepali words and phrases over time and the list is updated on a regular basis. The data entry is done by editors who have a thorough understanding of the Nepali language. During data entry, the editors start from the top of the list to ensure that the most relevant data gets entered first. Learn more.

So, even though a particular word is not available at the moment, it will be entered. When it will be entered depends on how frequently that word is used. If it is a fairly used word, it will most likely be added pretty soon.

Why suggestions do not show up for some incorrect words

Sep 24, 2013, Dass - Suggestions for some incorrect words did not show up. Could you explain the reason for this behavior?

NLRC - The spell checker automatically ignores a term if there are no suggestions available for it. Following two use cases explain this behavior.

If the term is पानि, it knows it is not correct and it tries to generate suggestions, and it will generate the correct form पानी, meaning "water," as a suggestion. Then it will say, "Hey, this does not seem to be correct and here is my suggestion" and provides the user with an option to accept or ignore the suggestion.

If the term is पानिसद, an incorrect term, it knows it is not correct. But in this case, it cannot generate appropriate suggestions. So, instead of saying, "Hey, this does not seem to be correct, and I do not have any suggestions for it," it will ignore the term and move on to the next term.

One of the enhancements to the app under consideration is an ability to switch to "strict checking mode," where an incorrect term for which suggestions are not available are also pointed out to the user. Let us know if that is something that you'd be interested in.

Sep 24, 2013, Dass - Thank you for your response. The strict mode, which you mentioned, would be much helpful for everyone who uses the app and for me it would be much more useful. I checked an entire document of 36 pages and corrected almost around 250 mistakes; adding additional facilities would make this app a resort. I will recommend this app to people who are in my contact.

NLRC - Your continued interest has given us more reasons to give this request a higher priority.

We have made improvements to our processes to better serve our user community. One of the changes is our new Enhancement Request submission process that has been implemented to provide a better visibility to our users on the status of their Enhancement Requests and not to lose track of many requests we receive. Please submit an Enhancement Request for this feature. Your request will be delivered to the right folks and given the appropriate priority. The Product Management team will get in touch with you if they need additional information on your request.

Thank you for continuing to use Nepali Spell Checker and for providing suggestions to make it better.